On Friday toward dusk the fruit merchants at the Carmel Market were desperate to get rid of their strawberries, because they wouldn't keep over the weekend. First they lowered the price to 10 shekels for 2 kilos, then 10 shekels for 3 kilos (US$2.50 for more than 6 pounds). I don't even really like strawberries, but who can resist such a bah-gain?

I figured I'd make strawberry jam.

So I shlepped 3 kilos (3 kilos! What the hell was I thinking?) of strawberries home. I washed them, I trimmed them and I sliced them into quarters. Then I dumped them all in a big pot, poured in a kilo of sugar, added a judicious amount of mineral water, brought the whole thing to a boil and simmered for 45 minutes.

I forgot to add lemon juice, and I also forgot that trimming the strawberries reduced their collective weight by nearly a kilo - so I didn't need to add that much sugar.

I now have a pot of strawberry syrup sitting on my stove.



Even I, with my nearly insatiable sweet tooth, cannot stomach the stuff.

It looks pretty, though. Maybe I'll feed it to the stray cats. (kidding, kidding).